Seeking Light
by Viidoll
Summary: Kurama x Touya implied slash - During the break before the semi-finals of the Ankoku Bujutsukai, Kurama stumbles upon the remaining members of the shinobi team.


Disclaimer: Yu Yu Hakusho. It is not mine :(

Warning: ...eh, well it doesn't reach the point of slash, but I guess it is kind of implied? And if you didn't see it in the story, then you saw it here :)

Notes: This story was intended as a gift for Ciu Sune... back in 2005. I didn't actually do it until September 19, 2009. It needs refining, but I'm fine with it as is. It took me a year to post it, yes :) Enjoy.

* * *

**Seeking Light  
**_Yu Yu Hakusho_

_. . .  
_

There was not much intriguing plant life surrounding the island the Ankoku Bujutsukai was hosted on. Kurama thought that there might be something of interest to him, or maybe of use in the semi-finals. But he had been walking for hours searching, and while it was a very relaxing walk in the sporadic patches of sunlight through the leaves, he only found common plants. Nevertheless, that would not get him down. It was rare that he could get rest from battle and enjoy the wilderness in its entirety.

After reigning victorious over the Shinobi team, each team was given time to rest while the committee prepared the next stadium. And after those battles, they certainly needed rest, Kuwabara in particular. The kitsune had coaxed the plant from his body, and he had rested enough to recover and go for a nature walk. It was surprisingly peaceful, the area around the arenas. It was hard to believe that, despite all of the violence that occurred on this island, the majority of the forest remained untouched and in a constant state of peace.

There was a large patch of light ahead; Kurama knew it to be a clearing in the trees, with a small stream running through it. He could hear the trickling of water from a good distance, and he decided it would be a good area to rest himself and enjoy the patterns of sunlight cast through the leaves. But as he neared, he felt two familiar presences, and with a smile, stepped into the clearing.

Two blue eyes stared into emerald, a piercing gaze. They sent chills down his spine by their very icey nature, but Kurama knew that the Shinobi was not as cold as his eyes would make one assume. He sat cross-legged on a large boulder beside the stream, wearing a slightly large shirt that one could only assume belonged to his hyperactive teammate. The fox could see bandages peeking out from under the shirt whenever Touya shifted.

"Kurama," the ice demon said with a nod in his direction, glancing away to the thin stream of ice he had been constructing from the trickling water. He waved his hand to determine the direction of the stream, but the fox could clearly see that the ice demon was careful in his limited movement.

"HI KURAMA!" The fox heard as he felt and saw Jin come flying down to greet him. The wind master did not stop, however, he simply passed by with an enormous grin spread across his face, and the fox managed to glimpse a twitch in his ear before he was twirling around in the sky above once more.

"Shouldn't he be resting?" Kurama said, smiling despite his question.

"I thought you were more observant than that, Kurama," Touya said, shifting his gaze momentarily from his swirling ice to meet the fox's eyes. He wondered if he could ever get used to that gaze, one that made him feel chilled despite the sun bathing his body. "From what little you may know of Jin, I thought it would be clear that he is not the resting type. He doesn't listen to me either when I tell him to rest."

"And your wound?" The fox asked, smiling and walking closer to the ice demon.

"Healing," he said in response, and added a little quieter, "Reisho certainly did not help it though."

"Crazy, that one!" Jin spoke in another flyby swoop.

"And what happened with him?" The fox inquired. "Kuwabara certainly did not kill him."

The ice demon smiled wryly. "Jin dealt with him as I rested."

"We won't be seeing him for a while!" the wind demon's voice called from above.

"For one so injured, he has a remarkable amount of energy," Touya said to Kurama, but it was clearly meant for Jin's sensitive ears. The wind demon dove down and came to a halt before his companion and in an act of true maturity, stuck his tongue out in defiance before returning to the clouds.

Ignoring what Kurama was sure to be a normal routine for them, Touya glanced to the ancient demon before him. "I see you have healed quite well. It must be convenient to have one with healing skills to help you."

"I could ask Yukina to heal you and Jin-"

Touya held a hand up to silence the fox, a small half smile on his thin lips. "Have her conserve her energy for your team. There is no point in healing members of a disqualified team. You will need her at full strength for the semi-finals."

"Are you sure?" The fox asked, in concern for what he knew to be a painful wound.

Touya laughed, lightly and with only a small trace of humor. "We are demons, Kurama. We are quite alright. We've survived far worse than this - blows meant for death," His eyes narrowed at this, "not for mere incapacitation."

"You are bothered by something?" Kurama asked in perception, leaning himself against the boulder next to the ice demon, watching as the moving stream of ice caught the sunlight and cast a myriad of tiny rainbows in every direction. "Are you upset that I didn't kill you?"

The ice demon sighed, and Kurama could feel from his proximity the cold air released from the demon's mouth. "…not so much because of your warm heart."

"Then what is it?" The fox asked, aware that he may be overstepping his welcome.

Touya sighed again, out of defeat rather than annoyance. "What bothers me is what that masked woman said. She questioned our masters' choices in apprentices. It made me wonder if we are really such disappointments."

Kurama remembered hearing her quiet voice while he and Touya had prepared to battle. When the ice demon spoke of his dream of light. He smiled, and peered from the ice that was beginning to form a spiral to Touya's reserved face. "I doubt that masters of such esteem would not have picked up on their apprentices' personalities and hopes. They knew what they were doing when they chose you. Perhaps they thought the Shinobi ways needed a new outlook."

At that statement, the ice stopped mid-spiral as Touya held his hand still and finally appeared to be entirely aware of the fox near him. "I have disgraced the Shinobi ways. I knew what I was getting into when I became an apprentice. I knew what it meant. Yet I began to long for more. And now, two of our team are dead, and our leader is banished. Only Jin and I remain. How can we uphold our honorable name now?"

Jin appeared swiftly and threw his arm around the fox's shoulders. "Kurama, kindly talk some sense into this boy?" He asked, grinning, before he kicked off from the ground once more and took to the air as a flock of seagulls appeared overhead. The fox watched as the wind demon circled the flock in wide motions.

"I cannot be so optimistic," Touya said, his eyes following the wind demon. "I cannot live so carefree."

"Why can't it be time for a change?" Kurama inquired, aware that he may overstep his welcome once more. "If you keep to the old ways in such a changing world, then you will be all but lost to time. What is wrong with dreaming? What is wrong with searching for a light to call your own? You mustn't let anything stand in the way of what you truly want."

"Nicely said!" The wind demon said in one swift dive.

Touya was silent, his eyes piercing into what felt like the fox's very soul. Kurama definitely felt that he had crossed the line from being welcomed and being troublesome. He pushed off of the rock and began to walk away as the ice demon gathered his spiral into one ball of ice. He moved his hands over it in swift, cutting motions as Kurama reached the trees.

Pausing, the fox peered over his shoulder to the creature sitting on the rock. "…that light of yours," he said quietly. "It does not have to be so literal, you know."

Touya did not lift his gaze from his new project as he responded, "No… I suppose not."

Kurama smiled, "Good luck." The ice demon nodded, and the fox knew he was dismissed. Touya did not look up until he was entirely out of sight, and did not move until he felt the faint trace of Kurama's aura fade away. He sighed, and made one final motion with his hand over the ice hovering above his lap.

The ice demon looked to the forest once more, and held the delicate rose carved from ice in his pale fingers.

. . .


End file.
